title: Habitat richness affects home range size in a monogamous large rodent.
abstract: In monogamous species, after pair formation, the main reason for ranging movements is not searching for a mate, but for other important resources e.g. food. We monitored a total of 20 radio-tagged adult, paired crested porcupines in four areas of different habitat richness. No sexual size dimorphism was assessed. Body mass and habitat richness showed collinearity. For both sexes, home range size was correlated to habitat richness, with a significant inverse exponential regression. Opposite to natural foragers, living in poor habitats, crop foragers had smaller home ranges, with their dens significantly closer to cultivations. Both availability of food resources and den sites are key variables to determine home range size.
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Via P.A. Mattioli, 4, 53100 Siena, Italy. Electronic address: lovari@unisi.it.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lovari
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sforzi
authors.forename: Emiliano
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mori
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D006702:Homing Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D007558:Italy; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D046328:Porcupines / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Crested porcupine; Denning site; Food resources; Hystrix cristata; Sexual dimorphism